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Hi all new here to site . I have been reading about opencarry in la. lived her nearly all my life and didn't know open carry was legal. What should I say if confronted about open carry and where to should I go to get some type of legal paper saying open carry is legal.

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The Louisiana Supreme Court has recognized open carry is legal in three decisions:

- State v. Ferrand, 95-1346 (La. 12/08/95); 664 So. 2d 396

- State v. Snoddy, 389 So. 2d 377 (La. 1980).

- State v. Bowen, 376 So. 2d 147 (La. 1979).

Also, an Attorney General's opinion from 1978 recognized that concealed carry is legal:

- La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 78‑795, 1978 WL 32078 (La.A.G.).

The truth is that there is no law prohibiting open carry. If an officer attempts to argue that it is illegal, simply ask him to cite the relevant statute or ordinance. The only laws on the books relate exclusively to the concealment of firearms. You could always carry around a copy of one or more of these decisions if you're truly worried, though.

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In keeping with the case law mentioned by coureges and having in mind that police in our state still try to arrest for OC when it is not a crime here is a US Supreme Court decision concerning qualified immunity.

Harlow vs Fitzgerald,457 U.S. 800 (1982)

"If the law is clearly established at the time the action occurred, a police officer is not entitled to assert the defense of qualified immunity based on good faith since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his or her conduct". 8-1 decision!

Louisiana does not offer qualified immunity to it's police--only partial immunity.Most police are not aware of this or even know what qualified immunity is.Local courts will generally permit various amounts of foolisness/marginal actions.But when you haul one into Federal Court for civil rights violations the picture changes in your favor.The officers simply cannot justify their actions when case law is so well established to the contrary.

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4sooth wrote:

In keeping with the case law mentioned by coureges and having in mind that police in our state still try to arrest for OC when it is not a crime here is a US Supreme Court decision concerning qualified immunity.

Harlow vs Fitzgerald,457 U.S. 800 (1982)

"If the law is clearly established at the time the action occurred, a police officer is not entitled to assert the defense of qualified immunity based on good faith since a reasonably competent public official should know the law governing his or her conduct". 8-1 decision!

Louisiana does not offer qualified immunity to it's police--only partial immunity.Most police are not aware of this or even know what qualified immunity is.Local courts will generally permit various amounts of foolisness/marginal actions.But when you haul one into Federal Court for civil rights violations the picture changes in your favor.The officers simply cannot justify their actions when case law is so well established to the contrary.

This is a good thing to know. Perhaps some of the LEO members here ought to share it with their fellow officers and perhaps post it on other websites.